As SOON as I saw the bouquet above, I was smitten. I wanted it- I needed it! I loved the idea of having a simple and stunning bouquet that would provide that POP! of color against the white wedding dress. Unfortunately, the peonies that make up this bouquet will not be in season during our wedding. It seemed like every time I searched online for flowers, none of the types I liked would be in season during September. GRR! URGG!

I was just starting to feel rather hopeless about the bridal bouquet situation when two things happened. First, Mr.A and I met with our flower vendor, Nikkee from The Calla Lily. Nikkee took one look at my inpiration and came up with many potential solutions. Second, soon after meeting with Nikkee I saw Mrs. Octopus’ bridal bouquet plans for her September 2010 wedding- her ideas were the exact look Nikkee and I discussed! It was serendipity.

While it took me a while to decide on the bridal bouquet, I’ve always had a clear vision for the bridesmaids. You see, although I may have fooled you after all that bridal bouquet talk above, I actually don’t like flowers thaaaat much. (I know, what kind of women I am? I also don’t like chocolate- so there!) I was blown away when I read that 6-8% of average wedding budgets is allocated to flowers. I’m sorry, but I can find a million more practical uses for that money. So, Mr.A and I decided early on to make some unconventional choices where flowers are concerned.

Which brings us back to bridesmaid bouquets…or rather, in this case, the lack of bridesmaid bouquets. Instead of going the basic flower route, we are having…wait for it…..

Photo source: weddingbee forum.

Bridesmaid Clutches! Photo source: weddingbee gallery.

Bridesmaid Clutches! Genius, right? I have to ask- why isn’t EVERYONE jumping on the bridesmaid clutch bandwagon? Just think how more useful a clutch is instead of the typical decorative bouquet. By giving them clutches, my bridesmaids will be able to carry all my their important stuff around- lip gloss, cell phone, tissue, mints, etc.! Love it.

Of course, I am planning on a bit of additional flower flair for the clutches, in the form fabric flowers pinned to the clutches (which I plan to DIY- don’t laugh, those of you who know my crafting abilities. I CAN do it!) .

Source: Etsy.

For the final members of the wedding party (the men), Mr.A and I are again going the non-conventional route. Instead of flower boutonnieres, we were inspired by:

Fritts Rosenow Bespoke Boutonnieres: for the unconventional male

source: Martha Stewart

Do you see the vision? No? Well, it goes like this: we are going to DIY boutonnieres using the leaf motif from Martha Stewart and the unconventional wisdom from Fritts Rosenow. Think small symbols of Mr.A’s hobbies placed in front of a fabric leaf backdrop- stay tuned to see how that DIY turns out!!!

4 Responses to Flower Power.

Love the DIY boutonniere route! I hope to talk my fiance into something similar for our 2011 new years eve wedding. What guy really wants to wear a flower all day? Also, I notice they tend to look disheveled by the end of the night.

I also love the fabric flowers. I’m hoping to do something similar for the flower balls (there has to be a better name for them) that my junior bridesmaids will carry.

P.S. I found my way over to your blog via abackyardwedding and your Duluth location caught my eye since I grew up and went to college not far from there. Looking forward to seeing more of your blog posts!

Oh— your wedding is coming right up, exciting!! I would love to see a photo of what you end up doing for your boutonniere route. We are currently in the guest list part of planning (read: ew) but hopefully I will be able to get on the DIY train again soon. 🙂